A HELICOPTER crashed in a field a few hundred yards from the A49 at Woofferton because it ran out of fuel, according to an official report.

In the accident, on a Saturday afternoon in mid-October 2002, the helicopter suffered a partial or complete power loss.

The only person on board - the injured pilot Andrew Ruhan, aged 40 - crossed a ditch and climbed a bank to reach a nearby road to flag down a passing motorist.

The report by the Air Accident Investigations Branch blames no-one for the accident but says there was an apparent shortfall of 36 litres in the fuel tanks.

The five-year-old Robinson R44 Astro helicopter took off from Denham Airfield in Buckinghamshire on Saturday morning on a return flight to Newport in South Wales. Beforehand the main and auxiliary tanks were refuelled and it reached Newport after 68 minutes.

Nearly two hours later, at 11.48am, the pilot took off from Newport.

He returned via Aberystwyth and then flew over Shobdon, near Leominster, at 1pm. Three minutes later he began to lose power.

The helicopter came down at 1.04pm, bounced and travelled a further 30 yards before rolling on its side in a field near the Salwey Arms junction of the A49 and the A456.

The investigators said refuelling records showed "insufficient fuel was uplifted to fill both of the tanks completely".

With a 36-litre shortfall there was only enough for 145 to 150 minutes flying, almost the exact time the Astro was in the air.